Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Burn 24 Hour race is probably the biggest local MTB race in my opinion. Last year I got to pit for Ross, Matt and Darrell all as solo's. Ross and Matt finished 3rd and 4th respectively and Darrell learned what 24 hour racing is like for the first time. At the end of last years race Darrell said that he would be back and when he got his Goat he started thinking about racing it solo and started training for that. Ross came back for more and talked his buddy David into trying his first Solo. Since Matt has retired from lap racing he decided to help pit and see what it was like to be at a 24hr race and not be on the bike the whole time. Saturday morning found Sean, Matt, Savannah and Me there to help our three buddies out with there task of kicking butt. The rain came in the night stopped at 9:30 A.M. and started sunning us all up. Ross got off to a great start and was well on course for 30+ laps when at lap 10 he came in and couldn't push his pedals anymore due to severe foot pain which also struck him bad last year late in the race. We installed a set of flats on his bike and after a little break he went back out to no avail. On coming back to the pits after the lap he said that didn't help and that he was calling it quits. David learned how bad the heat can get to you and that the longer you sit in the pits, the harder it is to motivate yourself to leave. We preached and preached to Darrell about pacing himself and that is indeed what he did. Every lap was within 15 minutes of each other except for one really bad night lap. The day temps were in the 80's and then at night we were slapped with temps in the 40's. The race ended up very well and Darrell did a great job. I dont know exactly where he finished but he was very happy with his race. Darrell getting on the bike after the Le Mans start with Mountain Goat banner in the backgroundFinishing a lapShowing off the Ti GoatSean and Matt at nightDarrell enjoying some hot green tea on a break at nightWaiting on Darrell each lap was hard at night with the temp drop, fortunately Darrell had a ton of blankets in the grocery store van...thanks Harmony Galaxy. I wont tell you what idiot named Wes forgot to bring pants for night and frozemaking D get out on another cold night lapmy Route 29 in the standDarrell in the morning close up of the TiDuff manDirty GoatDarrell trying to keep interested in going on with a hurting kneePony showed his supportthe Cicada's were out in full force making noise for all to hearleaving the race Savannah took this pic to show the field, I would say that about half the people had left by this time

Monday, May 12, 2008

Ever since the the first 4.2 miles of Itusi opened, I have had more people come in the shop and ask how fast I or others could ride the trail. Its a very fast place and with the Cackalacky Cup last year we learned just how fast it can be. All of this got me thinking. I will set up a spreadsheet showing riders and their time(honor system) for the entire 13 miles of Itusi.

-Start time at Kiosk and stop time back at the Kiosk.-email me your times to wes@firstflightbikes.com every/any time you ride at the trail whether it be a fun ride or speed ride.I think this would be a fun way to know where you stand up with others and also to show how much you have improved over the year.

There is no charge but I will give the fastest time from now to the end of July a free shirt from FFB or Mountain Goat Cycles.

I will post the times on here

Maybe we can set something like the 3rd Friday of each month for a group TT or something along those lines.

We are also riding out at LANO every Thursday @ 6:15ish if anyone is looking for a casual paced ride with lots of trash talk